Marks estimates stores such as Tiffany's, Gucci, Lacoste, Anne Fontaine and Stuart Weitzman will need to pull in $400 to $500 per sf in sales when they open this fall at the 1.3 million-sf, 405-acre million Mall at Millenia in south Orlando. The industry average for most established full-service department stores is $250 to $300 in sales per sf.

Marks, president of Orlando-based Marketplace Advisors Inc., thinks the retailers will reach their goals and even surpass them.

"Long term, high-end retail in Orlando looks pretty solid," the analyst tells GlobeSt.com. "You've got to remember, the big driver in Orlando is the tourist market. That's the market the high-end retailers are targeting. And even though the tourism numbers are down right now, the mall's unique location will get them through this slow period."

Joint mall developers Taubman Centers Inc. and Forbes Co., both of Bloomfield Hills, MI, are completing the $250 million mall near a new interchange along Interstate 4, the main artery in and out of Downtown Orlando and to attractions such as Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld.

Marks projects the high-end retailers will be drawing customers from a radius of 60 miles, almost three times the breadth of a normal retail area's pull.

"When fashion-conscious customers in Orlando want something they can't get locally, they'll drive 150 miles south to West Palm Beach to get the item," the analyst says. "So a 60-mile radius may even be a little conservative at this point. They could be drawing from further points as well."

Marks thinks Orlando and its suburbs can support the new wave of high-end retailers. "The real dominant component of retail is fashion and that's what these retailers are offering," he says.

Developers Taubman and Forbes are expected to announce more high-end retail tenants in the coming weeks. Tiffany's & Co. of New York, Guccio Gucci S.p.A. of Milan and Lacoste Group of Paris have signed leases. Anne Fontaine of Paris and Stuart Weitzman of New York are close to signing their contracts.

"This (mall) project will outposition every other (retail center)," Marks predicts. "The Mall at Millenia will become the dominant upscale center for tourists and residents to visit."